Raj Thackeray targets Vivek Oberoi, R Madhavan: ‘If India is doing well under PM Modi, why live in Dubai?’

The MNS chief criticised the actors for supporting PM Modi and acting in “government-sponsored films” yet choosing to live outside India.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, addressing a rally to mark the party's 20th anniversary, questioned why actors such as Vivek Oberoi and R. Madhavan choose to live in countries like Dubai if they believe India is doing well under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration.

The comments were made at event organised by the party's youth wing in Mumbai on Saturday.

“Industrialists are going abroad”

During his speech, Thackeray launched a sharp attack at the Prime Minister and questioned why prominent people were opting to leave the country under his administration.

“The government has admitted in Parliament that entrepreneurs in this country are leaving. Vivek Oberoi, who played Modi's role in the movie on Modi's life, lives in Dubai. R. Madhavan, who goes on about how everything became great during Modi's time and how the country changed, moves to Dubai with his family. If you think Modi has made everything so great, then why are you settling abroad? These people will come here to work in government-sponsored films and then go back to Dubai. Industrialists are going abroad,” he remarked.

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Madhavan has previously revealed that he shifted his family to Dubai in order to support his son's professional swimming career. Oberoi, on the other hand, revealed in an interview with Dubai Property Insider that he shifted in order to expand his business interests tied to his real-estate company BNW Developments.

During his speech, he also questioned the government's promise of “smart cities” by marking out how many kids still wish to live abroad due to “excellent roads, fields, gardens, cleanliness, sports complexes”.

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Thackeray guns at BJP over student protests

Thackeray also lashed out at BJP over students protests over the NEET paper leak. He pointed out that the protests were a sign of larger dissatisfaction in the country with the government, claiming that “MLAs and MPs are being bought off for 50, 100 crore”.

While addressing the issue of the use of abusive language during the protest, Thackeray supported the cause of reprimanding such remarks but also questioned the prime minister for his government's accountability in using the same language against “Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, to Indira Gandhi, to all of us including me”.

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"You say, "The kids have been forgiven." But who will apologize for what your people did? Those who ordered lathis on students, those who split students' heads open—who will they ever apologize?" he said.

In light of the ongoing Ram Mandir embezzlement case, Thackeray made allegations of similar theft being conducted at the Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai. “The trustees of Siddhivinayak Temple have written a letter to Eknath Shinde informing him of the embezzlement there. There's suspicion that 18 crore rupees were looted from the donation box," he claimed. "Students can't trust the government, so when they go to temples, theft is happening right there—who should these kids trust?”

Stuti Gupta is a Content Producer at Hindustan Times, based in New Delhi, where she is a part of the General News team, tasked with reporting on happenings across the country impacting domestic as well as international ecospheres. In her role at HT, she is responsible for keeping a track of incoming news updates, packaging stories and publishing them in a format best suited to their purpose. She holds a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Journalism from St Xavier’s, Mumbai and is partial towards working on international affairs. Apart from her interest in the geopolitical world, she is a keen reader, writer, orator, debater and learner who loves picking up new information. She has been recognized for her previous literary work at the international level with a Gold Finalist, Gold and Silver Award in various participating years at the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition along with winning the third prize and getting her story published in Children’s World in 2017. Barring academic and professional pursuits, she has a passion for travelling to new places, exploring new cultures and cuisines, documenting them through words and pictures and interacting with people from diverse backgrounds. She is also an avid enthusiast of studying art forms such as cinema, dance, theatre and music as a tool for cultural storytelling and actively participates in them.Read More